More Fun Experience @ Puerto Princesa Underground River

Name of Trip: Palawan Eco-Adventures 2010
Date: February 27 - March 2, 2010

Destination: Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

Travel via: Air (Philippine Airlines), Land (van, tricycle), Water (motorboat)

Welcome to the Underground River in Palawan!

Our 3rd day was a lot hectic but we were very excited. It is because that we were eager to see the Philippines' entry to the Seven Wonders of Nature. During 2010, it was a massive campaign along the city on our first day and they were full support not only in Palawan but also in the entire country. By the way, What will you expect on this trip?

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 kilometres (30 mi) north of the city centre of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The park has a limestone karst mountain landscape. The main attraction here is St. Pauls Underground River Cave - a more than 24 km long cave, which contains an 8.2-kilometer-long underground section of Cabayugan River. It is navigable with a boat up to 4 kilometres in from the sea. The cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers, including the 360-meter-long Italian's Chamber with approximate 2.5 million square meters volume - one of the largest cave rooms in the world. (Source: http://www.puerto-undergroundriver.com/)

Since the travel time from the hotel to Sabang port was approximately two hours, we woke up as early as 5AM for our breakfast here at Casa Fuerte and departed at 6AM to catch the early registration for the Underground River. According to our tour guide, Aileen, there is enough capacity to handle Underground River and we need to be there by 8AM. We had some stop over at Buenavista View Deck for a bladder break but the view seems magnificent.

great view!

picture against the light

me

The signage

Aileen, our tour guide, advised to hurry us so we have to be in Sabang port in time. Along the way, different sceneries never fail to impress such as the limestones mountains, landscapes and the like. We reach Sabang port and we took a motor boat for 15 minutes until we reached the Underground River.

arrived at Sabang Port

ready for boarding!

boarding time!

headlights ready!

arrived after 15 minutes

Welcome Signage

walk along with some information

some facts and figures

All we can say was "WOW!". We were so happy that finally we were here. We were so amaze the beauty of this wonder and we prepared our life vest, helmet for protection and our boat of course. I was assigned in front to be the light man and one of our guide was also the one who paddled the boat.

the cave

the boat was about to enter the cave

some other boats

we were all ready!

picture time!

I was a bit scared since I was seated in front but I realized that it was fun experience to be on that position. The moment that the guide paddled our boat and entered the cave, we felt silence as the guide explained the different rock formation as well as the different features inside. There were looked like a Holy Family, fruits, vegetables and even a highway!

about to enter

welcome to underground river

gets darker

only the light will see

along the underground river

see the rock formation

looks like a cathedral

spotted the Holy Family according to the guide

another angle shot of the Holy Family

bell pepper shaped

other features of stalactites

bell-shaped or it looked like a squash

bitter gourd or ampalaya shaped

Its a EDSA (highway) shaped stalactite!

string beans

other boat passed us

Our guide entertained us some jokes in which we laughed especially one asked if there were crocodiles here and he said yes but it was before and nothing was left for they realized that it was so dark inside. After an hour, we already saw the sunlight and we ended our tour. We thanked the tour guide for the learning we've got on the underground river. 

back again to camp

me and the underground river

Thank you for the experience. See you again! :)

group picture

me

back to Sabang port

arrived after 15 minutes

We took our lunch along the resort. We wanted to take a quick swim but our guide said due to strong current waves, it was not advisable to do that. After our lunch, we offered us a Mangrove Paddle tour which was a short walk from Sabang area. 

walk, walk, walk

group picture

pose!

closer!

walk along the shores

me!

great view!

We arrived few minutes later and we were advised to plant mangroves. According to them, there was a campaign about protecting from flood by having mangroves. It has beneficial for Palawan since it helped them prevent floods. After we planted mangroves, we were off the boat. They toured us along mangroves and we saw some creatures like snakes, birds and a lot more. We were lectured about the importance of mangroves in the environment. Tour lasted for 45 minutes. 

welcome sign

waiting for our boat

planted mangroves

Me planted mangrove

ready to tour

me

explore mangroves

snakes along trees

mangoves trees

nice

paddle back to the base camp

group picture

After our tour, I remembered that this was tour was featured on a television show few years ago. They searched a lady who was singing a hymn and they gave us something a clue. Suddenly, one said that it was Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition 2. We went to our van and back to the hotel. But before we went back to the hotel, we stopped on two sites. The first one was the mountains made of limestones (according to our guide) and Vietnamese Village where we bought a French bread called bagel with different fillings. It tasted so good. 

great limestone mountain

we took time to take photos

and another one

another shot

short stop

small chapel

went to the restaurant

interiors

simple yet classy

ordered bagel

their logo

All in all, it was a hectic schedule and yet exciting and learning experience that I will never forget.It was indeed fun and we enjoyed a lot on that day. 

Update: Puerto Princesa Underground River was entered as the Philippine entry - and topped the first round of voting - in the New7Wonders of Nature competition, and on July 28, 2011, after the second round of voting, it was declared 1 of 28 finalists. Puerto Princesa Underground River was entered as the Philippine entry - and topped the first round of voting - in the New7Wonders of Nature competition, and on July 28, 2011, after the second round of voting, it was declared 1 of 28 finalists. (Source: Wikipedia)

**I tell you, as a tourist, whether foreigner or a Filipino, this is a worth visit and experience the fun and excitement! :) **

Continue to the next blog! :)